


Blazing Flames

by RoonilWazlib394



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Bullying, Complicated Relationships, Growth, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Hope you enjoy, Hurt/Comfort, I'm still salty about it, Just needed to add some angst to the plot, Love Triangles, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Post-Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Scorpius can't be straight, Slytherin, Spoilers, That should be the REAL ending of the book, but not really, i'll never get over it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-01 03:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13989600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoonilWazlib394/pseuds/RoonilWazlib394
Summary: Albus looked around nervously, trying to find some help that could make the choice easier; His look went on the Gryffindor table first, where James was looking at him nervously and Rose was already chatting and giggling with other students. Then Albus looked at the Slytherin table and he saw Scorpius’s green eyes looking directly at him, hopeful.“The decision is made” whispered the hat, “SLYTHERIN!”.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all and apologize for any mistake you may find, since English is not my native language. I tried my best anyway. Hope you enjoy :)

“You’d better go if you don’t want to miss the train Al” Harry said to his son, It was his first year at Hogwarts. Albus nodded and reached Rose, who was waiting for him near the wagon.  
They went on the train, and the doors closed after them while Rose started saying: “Now we have to chose where to sit.. You know our fathers met each other in this train, right? We have to find our best friends right now, but fortunately I think that everyone in this strain wants to be our friend”. She moved along the corridor followed by Albus, who was starting to be nervous under the pressure of what his cousin was saying.  
“Let’s try this one.” said Rose. Albus opened the door of a near compartment, inside it, sitting by the window, there was a thin pale boy with blonde hair who smiled kindly to Albus.  
“Can we sit here?” asked Albus looking at the dark green eyes of the stranger.  
“Yes, It’s just me” answered the boy waving his hand towards the empty seats.  
“Good. So we can sit here.. for a while.. do you mind?” asked hesitantly Albus entering the room, followed by his cousin Rose.  
“Yes, you’re welcome here” smiled Scorpius standing up.  
“Albus. Al. I’m Albus” said Albus introducing himself. “Hi, Scorpius. I mean I’m Scorpius. You’re Albus. My name is Scorpius” mumbled nervously the pale boy “And You are…?” he asked looking at Rose. “Rose.” She answered coldly standing still near the seat where Albus was already sat.  
The silence filled the room for a moment, until Scorpius decided to offer some of his candies to the two new arrivals. “Thanks, my mother never let me eat sweets when I’m at home!” exclaimed happily Albus starting to eat. Albus sit in front of the new guy and they both looked at the people disappearing outside the window when the train started moving.  
A nudge hit Albus in the back, but he was so focused on all the magic candies that Scorpius was giving to him that he barely noticed it.  
“So which can I chose?.. ROSE! Stop hitting me!” snapped Albus impatiently. “I’m not hitting you Al..” answer Rose folding her arms, she was still standing near the empty seats.  
“Yes, You are. And it hurts.” said Albus in an accusatory tone looking up at her.  
She stood still without speaking for some seconds, and then Scorpius said: “Sorry, I know It’s my fault”. He looked down: “ I know who you are Albus, so I think that You should know who I am”.  
Albus looked at him, confused.  
“You are Albus Potter, and She’s Rose Granger Weasley...” Scorpius continued hesitantly “..and I am Scorpius Malfoy. My parents are Astoria and Draco Malfoy. Our parents didn’t really get along.”.  
The shame that Scorpius felt saying those words was barely perceptible. He never imagined before that the first nice person he would meet in his way to Hogwarts would be Harry Potter’s son. His father had told him that Albus had his same age, but what a coincidence to meet him so soon!  
But the worst thing was that they couldn’t be friends. “Surely He will go away ” thought Scorpius, “My only fault is my name”.  
“Your parents were Death Eaters! Saying that They didn’t get along is an euphemism!” snapped Rose offended.  
“My dad was. My mum wasn’t.” answered back Scorpius raising his voice.  
He already knew that the years at Hogwarts wouldn’t be easy for him, his father was a Death Eater after all, and so were his grandparents. Even if they weren’t sent to Azkaban at the end of the war where Voldemort was defeated, it doesn’t mean that they were totally innocent. This meant that all the students not muggle-born of Hogwarts would be scared of him; They probably wouldn’t either try to listen to his words if he would try to explain that he was different from the other members of his family.  
“There are also voices that He’s Voldemort’ s son, Al. “ continued Rose, staring suspiciously at Scorpius “But I don’t think that they are true.. I mean, look at his nose!”. They laughed nervously, but fortunately that joke lightened up the mood a little bit.  
“Well Albus, I think that It’s time to go now. We’ll find another compartment.” said Rose turning her back to Scorpius. Albus looked up at her, and then at Scorpius. The blond boy was looking down at his knees, hopelessly.  
“You can go Rose.” answered Albus “I’ll stay here”.  
“What? It’s your only chance, I won’t wait for you.” said Rose with a threatening tone.  
Albus looked at her : “I’m not asking you to wait”.  
Rose without hesitation took her trunk, and left the compartment slamming the door after her. 

Scorpius was looking at Albus unbelievable of what just happened. He couldn’t understand the situation, why Harry Potter’s son was still here?  
“I’m sorry for my cousin” said hesitantly Albus “So what were we talking about?”.  
“I think.. Pepper Imps… they are my favorites” answered Scorpius tying to put himself together. Still shocked He gave some of the candies to Albus, who smiled kindly to him.  
Scorpius felt his cheeks blushing, He just noticed Albus’ bright green eyes, which were focused on the several wrappers in his hands . The eyes were too light behind the dark hairs that hid his forehead, but they gave him a mysterious appearance.  
Suddenly Albus looked up at Scorpius, who quickly took his eyes off him.  
“Are you nervous about going to Hogwarts?” asked Albus without noticing Scorpius’ embarrassment.  
“Yes, I am. My father told me that he didn’t like to go to Hogwarts, even if he didn’t want to tell my why..” answered Scorpius “.. and you? Are you nervous?”.  
Albus quickly swallowed another candy before speaking : “Well my father told me that his years at Hogwarts were the best of his life, so I think It will be fun for us too!”, but then his look became worried “But I ‘m scared..if I won’t be sorted in Gryffindor..”.  
“In Gryffindor?” interrupted Scorpius “Oh right! Your father is Harry Potter so he obviously wants you to end up in his house. Well, I think I’ll be sorted in Slytherin because all members of my family belonged to that house instead.”.  
They stopped eating for a moment and they looked at each other meaningfully. “Does It mean that we can’t be friends?..” asked timidly Scorpius.  
“No.. Obviously not!” answer determined Albus, “It doesn’t mean anything, there isn’t a rule that forbids to be friends with other house’s students.”.  
Scorpius smiled hopefully, that guy was totally different from what he had expected.

The light of the sun was slowly fading away, while the earlier stars were starting to shine in the sky. Albus was looking outside the window, “We’re almost arrived” He thought turning his head towards his new friend.  
Scorpius was peacefully sleeping on his seat, his head laid against the cold glass of the window. His blond eyelashes cast a shadow on the fair skin of his face. Albus thought that he had been very lucky to find such a good mate so soon, but he was worried about losing him after the Sorting Ceremony. What he had said before was just to comfort Scorpius, and probably to persuade himself too.  
The train started to slow down, Albus stood up and grabbed his coat, then he moved closer to Scorpius, he reached out and shook gently Scorpius’ shoulder. Scorpius opened his eyes lazily, and looked up toward Albus. “The train is slowing down, we have to get ready” explained Albus.  
Scorpius jumped up and looked at his dresses to check that everything was in the right place. They already changed their muggle clothes into their school uniforms, the only things missing were their ties.  
The students crowded the corridors when the train stopped. Albus and Scorpius got off the train dragging their trunks and followed the massive shape of Hagrid, who was shouting “First yer here! Follo’ me!”. Hagrid as usual led the first year students to the lake, where some boats were waiting for them. “Students on boats!” shouted Hagrid, “Al! Rose! C’m with me” said happily looking at them. They followed Hagrid on a boat, while Scorpius was waiting uncertain “Ye can come too! Ye mus’ be Draco’s son, right?” asked Hagrid lending a hand to Scorpius, helping him to come aboard.  
The wind blew vigorously, forcing them to stay close together, while the boats slowly crossed the lake. After what seems hours the new students finally arrived to the castle of Hogwarts.

Professor Longbottom received the new students and led them to the Great Hall, were Professor McGonagall was waiting with the Sorting Hat in her hands. The room was full of older students, who were waiting for the Sorting Ceremony to start. She started to call new students’ names, one after another, while the Sorting Hat shouted the houses’ names.  
When Rose was called and the hat was placed on her head he shouted “GRYFFINDOR!”, while cheers and clapping raised from the Gryffindor table. “Ron ad Hermione will be very proud of her” thought Albus, but he started to feel sick. He had to become a Gryffindor too, or his parents would be disappointed.  
Scorpius noticed the sudden change of expression on Albus’ face, and understood what was in his mind. He came closer to Albus, trying to avoid the students around them and he whispered in Albus hear : “Don’t worry, It doesn’t matter in which house you’ll end up. Just be yourself and the hat will choose the right place for you”.  
“Scorpius Malfoy “ called McGonagall. Scorpius suddenly ran toward her and she placed the hat on his head. After a second the hat announced “SLYTHERIN!”, and cheers grew from the Slytherin table.  
Another pair of names were called before Albus turn, when Professor McGonagall called his name he slowly walked near the hat and then he waited to hear the hat’s decision.  
Unexpectedly when the hat was placed on his head Albus heard a voice : “Mmm.. another Potter.. and one more difficult choice.. “. Albus realized with great surprise that the Sorting Hat was talking to him!  
“I can see that there’s a conflict between your head and your heart Albus… but which one do I have to consider?” continued the hat. Albus looked around nervously, trying to find some help that could make the choice easier; His look went on the Gryffindor table first, where James was looking at him nervously and Rose was already chatting and giggling with other students. Then Albus looked at the Slytherin table and he saw Scorpius’ green eyes looking directly at him, hopefully.  
“The decision is made” whispered the hat, “SLYTHERIN!”.  
A mixture of applauses and whispers filled the Great Hall. Albus was confused, he felt guilty and shocked and demoralized, but at the same time he was relieved. “You have to go to your table” said firmly Professor McGonagall, patting kindly Albus’s shoulder.  
He finally stood up, and walked quickly toward an empty seat near Scorpius, trying to avoid the students’ glances. “Yay Albus! Aren’t you happy? We are together!” Asked enthusiastically Scorpius, while Albus was looking at the empty plate in front of him. “Yes.. yes I think I am” answered uncertainly Albus looking up at Scorpius smiling face, “But at least we can still be friends” added smiling back at him.


	2. Chapter 2

After the best dinner of their lives the two guys followed the Slytherin prefects to their new common room, where their trunks where waiting. The Slytherin common room was set in the dungeon of the castle and it was colder and darker than the others common rooms because sunshine couldn’t reach it. Walls and ceilings were made of rough stone and outside the windows you could only see the glimmer of a sunray shining through the water of the lake, and sometimes the occasional giant squid too. Chandeliers and candles illuminated the room with green magic flames casting dark shadows on the walls.  
Albus thought that place was creepy and too dark, but Scorpius seemed so happy that he didn’t dare to say it out loud.  
“This is the boys’ dormitory entrance, and that’s the girls’ one” Said the prefect pointing at the doors: “When you’ll find your own trunk you will find your room”.  
Albus and Scorpius ran from door to door looking for their trunks when finally Scorpius exclaimed: “Mine’s here!”, Albus quickly reached the room where Scorpius was. “There’s my trunk too! We are roommates!” noticed Albus cheerfully.  
Four four-posters where located inside the square room, two near the right side and two on the opposite one. Albus and Scorpius took the beds on the left sides and started unpacking their trunks, after some minutes the other two roommates joined them, but both of them didn’t seem too happy to share the room with them. The lessons started the next morning, so after presentations they turned off the lights and went to sleep.

A light woke up Albus. He rubbed his eyes and looked around to find the source of light: in the near bed Scorpius was hidden under the sheet and the light of a wand came from there.  
“Hey Scorpius, what are you doin’? “ mumbled quietly Albus.  
Scorpius moved the sheet, and his head showed up among the blankets : “I’m sorry Albus, I didn’t mean to wake you up.. I just.. I couldn’t wait till morning to write to my dad..” whispered Scorpius apologizing.  
“What? What did you need to say to your father?” answered Albus confused.  
“Well.. that I’m a Slytherin.. “ whispered uncertain Scorpius.  
“That’s all?” reply Albus suspiciously “You’d better go to sleep, tomorrow we’ll start lessons” growled Albus turning his back to Scorpius.  
“No.. that’s not all.. “ whispered softly Scorpius to the dark.

Next morning the Great Hall was full of owls rustling around during breakfast, all parents were impatient to know the big news from their children, and so were Harry, Ginny and Scorpius’ parents. Two owls landed in front of them, and Albus took a letter from a dark Eagle Owl: “This is for you Scorpius, It’s from Draco.. and there’s a pack of sweets too!”.  
Scorpius took quickly the letter and started reading while Albus opened his own: Harry and Ginny asked him in which house he was sorted and wished him good luck for the first day. Albus took a quill and a parchment from his bag to write a letter back, but after writing “Thank you” for good luck he couldn’t go ahead.  
His hand trembled while he wrote ‘I was sorted in’, but he was too ashamed to write the house’s name. He was worried to disappoint his father, he knew all his parents and grandparents were sorted into Gryffindor, He was the black sheep of the family! And how to tell them that he met and shared the room with Draco’s son? and he was pleased of it after all, how could they understand? And if his parents tried to separate them?  
After some thoughts Albus decided that the better choice was to avoid to tell them about Scorpius, and to focus on the bad news of Slytherin house. So after writing down some lines of apology he tied the letter to an owl’s leg and got up. “C’mon Scorpius, you don’t want to be late for our first class, right?”.

In the afternoon they went to the Quidditch pitch after attending potions and transfiguration, that was the last lesson of the day and Albus was already tired of the whispers and glances that surrounded them all day long.  
The first task was to make a broom flying into your hand saying ‘UP’ out loud, so all students placed themselves near a broomstick and started screaming “UP!” until they managed to pick them up.  
Albus tried to do the same, but his broomstick barely moved. He looked at Scorpius on his right, that after a couple of attempt, made the broomstick flying in his hand with no difficulty.  
Albus tried again to focus just on the broomstick, but he was distracted by high-pitched giggles of two girls who were keeping the broomsticks in their hands looking at him. He looked around confused, everyone else was staring at him because he was the only one who didn’t manage to complete the task yet.  
He looked at Scorpius, who said quietly to him : “Go on Albus, you almost made it”. Albus tried to ignore the people around him and repeated uncertainly “Up” , but the broom remained still on the ground.  
“And you want me to believe that he’s a Potter?” started a voice in the distance.  
“His father was the youngest seeker of the century”  
“Ginny works for the Quidditch section of the Daily Prophet”  
“He’s so different from his father” continued the voices around him.  
Albus didn’t know what to do. They were right, he was a delusion for everybody who knew his father. A young Gryffindor moved toward him saying : “You’d better come back to the locker room if you don’t want to humiliate your family anymore” while the other students started laughing.  
Albus’ face became red and he turned toward Scorpius to see if he was laughing too, but Scorpius was walking toward him looking at his feet mortified. “Better go Albus..” said Scorpius pushing gently Albus’s back in the direction of the castle.  
“You hit it off with death eaters too, Potter? “ laughed another Gryffindor behind them while they walked away. 

The next days were like hell for the two guys, every time they stepped outside their room they became targets of jokes and insults from other students: Albus because he was the first Slytherin in his family and the worst student of the year in any subject where he had to use his wand; while Scorpius was called ‘death eater’ because of his surname and people also said that he was Voldemort’s son. Even Rose decided to ignore them, and she explicitly asked them to not talk to her when people were around.  
Unexpectedly one morning James (Albus’s older brother) stopped Albus in a corridor near the Great Hall to talk to him. Albus was so happy to see him, it was the first time they met since they were on the Platform Nine and Three Quarters.  
“Hi James” said happily Albus.  
“Hi Al” answered seriously James looking around. “I’ll be fast, I’ve to go to class” continued James without letting Albus speak, “Stop hanging out with Malfoy, there are a lot of bad voices on him”.  
Albus was confused: “What are you talking about?”.  
“I’m talking about people talking of you like a death eater, or some weird squib” snapped the older brother impatiently, “He’s a bad influence, you don’t need to hang out with him”.  
Albus felt anger growing in his chest: “In fact I don’t need to. I want to.” he hissed trying to stay calm. “And who are you to decide who I can hang out with?” he asked provocatively.  
James looked down at him, he was a feet taller than Albus, so the little brother seemed pretty scared when he said threatening: “ I’m no one, but I bet you didn’t tell mum and dad, right?”.  
Albus didn’t know how to reply.  
“He’s my only friend, I won’t leave him.. please” he tried to say desperately.  
James looked into his eyes, opened his mouth as to say something, then he closed it and took a deep breath.”Ok then- “ he answered his brother pitifully “Just promise me you’ll try to make new friend” asked James kindly.  
“Now I’ve to go, and try to listen to me sometimes” said absently James messing Albus’s hair with a hand, then he turned his back and walked away, without waiting for Albus’s response. 

Next hour for Slytherins was Herbology so Albus walked toward the greenhouses and when he arrived the lesson had just started, so he took place on Scorpius’s left trying to not disturb the teacher.  
Slytherin and Ravenclaw students were all standing around a rectangular table, and Neville was standing near one of the short sides.  
“Now that everybody is here- “ started Professor Longbottom glancing at Albus, “We can start”. He took a plant from a near table and put it on the one in front of the students.  
“Can someone tell me what’s this plant’s name?” said Neville looking at the students.  
Albus looked around, no one raised his hand.  
He moved closer to Scorpius and whispered: “Do you know the name?”.  
Scorpius looked at him and nodded.  
“What is it?” asked in low voice.  
Scorpius took his quill and wrote on a parchment in front of him ‘Dittany’. Albus nodded and moved back where he was before, but in doing so he hit a Ravenclaw girl, who glared at him and stepped back.  
“No one knows?” asked Professor Longbottom again, “It is a plant of Dittany. And does anyone know what it is used for?”.  
People started whispering, and a Ravenclaw raised his hand: “It’s used to heal Doxy bites” said arrogantly the boy.  
“Yes, that’s true.” answered Professor Longbottom calmly “But that’s not the most important one. Anyone?”.  
Albus looked significantly at Scorpius, who moved near him and said in low voice “It’s used to heal wounds, and can also cure a werewolf bite, even if it doesn’t cure from lycanthropy”. Albus nodded whispering “wow, very useful”, when another voice whispered near him: “I think you should tell it to the class”.  
The Ravenclaw girl that Albus hit before was looking interested at Scorpius, “Sorry if I was eavesdropping on you” added blushing a little bit. She wore her brown hair in a ponytail, but her rubber band wasn’t enough to keep all her curly hair in place, and they were tickling Albus’s face while she was slightly bowed before him to talk with Scorpius.  
“If no one knows the answer please be quiet” continued Neville, “the most important thing is that Dittany, mixed with silver, can heal even werewolves bites, that otherwise couldn’t be cured by any spell”.  
After the end of the lesson Albus and Scorpius were walking back to the castle with the other students when Albus started thinking about the Ravenclaw girl they met before: she seems a nice girl and she didn’t make them feel judged, like it happened with anyone else. Albus thought that maybe he should listen to his brother and try to make new friends, even because he didn’t even know her name.  
He looked at the students around him and he saw the girl walking after them near a bunch of Ravenclaw.  
“Hey Scorpius wait a second, I have to tie my shoes” said Albus kneeling down as an excuse to wait for the girl.  
Scorpius waited standing next to him, and when he saw the girl passing near them he waved at her and said to Albus: “There’s the girl of the greenhouse, maybe we should talk to her”.  
“It seems like a good idea” answered Albus getting up. They walked near her and Scorpius said nicely: “Hi, we didn’t introduce ourselves before. I’m Scorpius”.  
“Hi Scorpius, I’m Sofie “ answered shyly the girl “And you are?” she asked addressing Albus.  
“I’m Albus.. and sorry for hitting you before” said Albus smiling at her, making her blush. 

Weeks passed and Albus and Scorpius became best friends. Everything was funnier if they did it together, even not fitting in that school seemed not that bad if your friend was there to help you.  
But one Sunday during breakfast Albus received an unexpected letter from their parents, they were mad at him because they found out about Scorpius and they didn’t want Albus to stay with him anymore. They were so furious they wrote ‘thank us for not sending an Howler’ and added that they would ask Professor McGonagall to change his dormitory room.  
When Albus read the letter he remained frozen.  
Scorpius was happily eating his breakfast sitting next to him, while telling Albus how good the food in Hogwarts was. Albus needed some time to understand what he just read, then he slowly got up and left the table without a word.  
Scorpius looked curiously at him, and with his mouth still full of food tried to ask him what he was doing, but Albus turned his back to him and walked away. Surprised Scorpius looked at him leaving the Great Hall, and then he noticed the letter that Albus left on the table.  
Albus walked out of the hall, he felt the rage growing slowly inside him, he knew whose fault it was.  
After turning the corner of the Great Hall’s door he started running crazily towards the Gryffindor tower.  
Raised in a family of Gryffindors he perfectly knew where the common room was, but he also knew that he couldn’t enter without a password.  
When he arrived panting in front of the Fat Lady portrait she looked at him curiously.  
“I think this is the wrong place for you dear” she said while Albus was catching his breath.  
“Please, let me - enter” asked Albus between a breath and another.  
“I need you to tell me the password” said the Fat Lady snobby.  
“Please, I need to talk to a person!” said Albus, now that he was breathing he felt the anger growing again.  
“If you don’t let me enter I’ll start screaming until someone will came out!” threatened the boy.  
The Fat Lady waved her hand carelessly saying: “Go ahead if you want, I won’t let you in without the password”.  
“FINE!” shouted the guy.  
“JAMES!!” started screaming madly Albus “JAMEEES!! COME THE HELL OUT OF THERE!”.  
A group of students passed near him walking up the stairs and they looked scared.  
“What are you looking at?!” asked angrily before screaming again.  
The portrait of the Fat Lady opened and James walked through it looking shocked at his brother.  
“What the hell are you doing Al?” asked abruptly James.  
“WHY DID YOU TELL THEM?” started yelling Albus.  
“What are you talking about? Are you fine Albus?” asked worried his brother.  
“You know what” continued Albus angrily “You told them about Scorpius! To mum and dad!” his eyes started filling with tears, he felt completely betrayed.  
“I tried to make new friends, you shouldn’t have told them!” said Albus. Everything was becoming blurry, he started seeing just his brother’s shape, but he didn’t want to cry.  
“Albus, you need to calm down now” said calmly his brother putting a hand on Albus’s shoulder.  
Albus wiped his tears furiously and waited for James to speak.  
“Did mum and dad find out about Scorpius?”  
Albus nodded.  
“And what did they tell you?” asked softly the older brother.  
“They forbid me to hang around with him, and they want to change my room too” answered Albus, he started to realize how pathetic he had looked yelling in that way, but he couldn’t allow to be separated from Scorpius.  
“They think he has a bad influence, but that’s not true! He’s a nice- “ Albus was interrupted by his brother who said: “ok ok, I understand, but calm down”.  
James scratched his head and then said: “First of all, have you got any idea of how many people in this castle know our dad? So please next time think before acting like a lunatic. And then- “ He paused a moment like he was thinking at the better solution “then, if Scorpius is such a nice person like you said, maybe you should try to ask him if he wants to spend a couple of days with us during the Christmas Holydays. I’ll write some lines to mum to see if I can persuade them a little”.  
Albus didn’t know how to thank him. He easily forgot that James was a good person after all, even if he liked to prank his little brother a bit too much sometimes.  
“I - Well - thanks James” mumbled Albus ashamed.  
“You’re welcome, Al “ answered James messing his brother’s hair.  
Albus stepped back and then he turned towards the stairs. He felt relieved, fortunately there was a solution.


	3. Chapter 3

The years passed slowly for the two guys but they got used to people making fun of them and they learned to ignore them. The only thing they cared about was to stay with each other, even their family accepted the friendship between them and allowed them to see each other even during the holydays.   
Scorpius was looking outside the window of the Hogwarts Express, people were running around on the platform, someone waived at his children, someone hugged, some other were crying.   
He liked to arrive earlier to the train to look at the people, but even because he didn’t like to be stuck in the crowd. It was like that since the first year, he begged Draco not to be late at the station because he didn’t want to be one of those guys who jumped on the train at the last minute, without having the time to say bye to his parents or to be sure to not have forget anything. He was not like Albus.   
Scorpius saw him running with his trunk toward the train, followed by his brother and sister. They were always late, Harry and Ginny were shouting something through the crowd that he couldn’t listen from inside the train. He saw them get on the train, then the doors closed and the train started moving.  
Albus opened the compartment door panting, he felt his heart lighter when he saw Scorpius waiting for him smiling.   
“Scorpius!” said, he couldn’t help himself from smiling from ear to ear.  
“Hi Albus” answered Scorpius smiling back. They were both so glad to see each other again, they spent some days together during the holydays, but it was some weeks before.   
Albus entered the room and after that he took off his coat and he put his trunk in a luggage compartment over a seat. In those years he grew taller as his brother James, but he was as thin as before. His hair was as dark and messy as ever, but his skin seemed a little less light than usual (probably because of the summer sun) even if it was mostly hidden by the oversize sweater that Albus loved to wear. Scorpius became taller too, a few inches less than Albus, but his skin was as fair as ever because he spent the summer reading in his bedroom instead of going outside with friends or relatives like normal people do.   
“So, how are you? Did you write the essay for history of magic at the end?” asked Scorpius to distract himself from Albus back.  
“Yes I- yes, I did it” answered Albus hesitantly while sitting in front of Scorpius.  
“And did you went at the Qiudditch game with your father at the end?” asked quickly Albus.  
“Oh no.. no he had some work to do so we didn’t go.. but he told me that we’ll go at the next one during the Christmas Holyday if you want to come with us” said Scorpius “However I wanted to ask you if something happened- you know, you didn’t answer my letters in the last few weeks, I was a little worried..” asked quietly Scorpius rubbing his hands.  
The truth was that Scorpius passed his holidays waiting for Albus letters. They wrote to each other everything that had happened to them, almost every day, and he was so happy every time he saw an owl peck on the window of his bedroom, until Albus stopped answered Scorpius letters during the last two weeks.   
“Yes yes, all good” answered nervously Albus looking anywhere but his friend.  
In that moment the compartment door opened and a curly haired girl entered the room, she wore a tight shirt that enhanced her well shaped body. She smiled happily at the two boys and took a seat near Albus.   
“Hi guys!” she said enthusiastically “How are you Scorpius? We didn’t meet since the end of school”.  
“All good, and you Sofie?” answered kindly Scorpius.  
“Fine, we had a lot of fun in the last days, right Al?” she said looking maliciously at Albus.  
Albus was pressed against the window and was trying to hide his face behind his hand, obviously without success. “Yes, we had..” answered Albus with his face red as a lobster.  
“Oh, cool” answered awkwardly Scorpius.  
Albus was trying to sink in his seat for the shame.  
Fortunately the door opened again, and another girl appeared, breaking the tension in the room. “Ehi Sofie, I was looking for you everywhere! We find an empty compartment, do you want to come? Oh, Hi Al” said the girl.  
Sofie looked at Albus, then at the girl, and then at Albus again, uncertain of what to do.   
“Don’t worry you can go with her” said quickly Albus.  
“Are you sure?” asked Sofie shyly looking in Albus eyes.  
“Yes, I’ll see you later” answered kindly Albus with a little smile.  
“Okay then- so see you later” said Sofie, then she moved closer to Albus and she softly kissed him. Albus blushed again, but he returned the kiss.  
Scorpius looked quickly away, he felt like someone stabbed him in his chest from how much it hurts. He barely breathed from the pain, he turned his head toward the window trying to looked as normal as possible. Meanwhile Sofie stood up and left the room with her friend. When she closed the door a tense silence filled the room.  
Albus was totally ashamed in that moment, he didn’t know what to say. Probably if he’d had the guts to tell Scorpius about her before she came in, it would have been better.   
‘You have nothing to be ashamed of’ thought Albus, trying to convince himself.   
Albus looked at Scorpius, he was looking outside the window apparently calm, then he turned his head and he asked calmly: “So, are you two together?”.  
“Ehm.. Yes we are” answered Albus uncomfortable.  
“Cool” said coldly Scorpius, while trying to smile. He couldn’t show Albus how this news broke his heart, he needed to pretend to be fine because he didn’t want to destroy his friendship with Albus just because he felt something more than friendship for him. He had to admit that he had thought that that feeling was mutual, but apparently he was wrong.   
“So that’s why you didn’t answered to my letters in the last weeks” asked Scorpius pretending a little laugh.   
“Well yes-” answered Albus “I’m really sorry, but I was-” tried to explain Albus, but he was interrupted by Scorpius, who said to not worry about it.  
“So don’t you want to tell me anything about it?” asked Scorpius smiling, he couldn’t help himself to ask it. He knew that he would be worse for him to know all the details, but he wanted to know at the same time. What did Albus find so attractive in her? Scorpius was demanding himself. Ok, she was smart, and cool and pretty popular, but she wasn’t Albus type of girl! Or maybe it was? Maybe the only reason Scorpius didn’t find her attractive was just because she was a girl? Scorpius already knew about his sexuality, he accepted it, but he didn’t tell anyone. He was too scared to tell Albus about it because he was worried to make things weird between them, and he didn’t want to.   
“Well.. yes” answered Albus trying to find some signal of annoyance from Scorpius.  
“She asked me to go visit her for a couple of weeks during the summer, she said she wanted to ask you too, but she knew that your dad wouldn’t allow you to stay in a muggle town and she didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable” said Albus looked for any reaction of Scorpius, but his friend was still smiling calmly at him.  
“So I went to her house and after a week together she said that she liked me, and- well I said ok and then we kissed and- yes now we are together” continued nervously Albus.  
“So you just kissed?” asked curiously Scorpius.   
“Well- that day yes” answered Albus blushing, but from his reaction was clear that was not the only thing that happened.  
“Wow, so it was a big summer” said Scorpius pretending to be fine.  
Albus was still looking at him suspiciously. He didn’t expect this reaction from Scorpius, well this wasn’t a reaction at all, he was acting like they were talking about what they ate for breakfast! Albus thought he would be annoyed by the news about Sofie and him, apparently he didn’t know Scorpius as well as he thought he did. When Sofie asked him if he wanted to be her boyfriend his only thought was about what Scorpius would have thought. But probably he made the best decision in saying yes to her.  
He didn’t know why he felt so disappointed, and so guilty at the same time, at the end his friend seemed happy for him, he had nothing to worry about. 

That year was the fifth, so they had to study harder because of the O.W.L., the exams that Hogwarts’ students had to do.   
One Sunday afternoon, after lunch Scorpius and Albus were sitting on their beds reading.   
“Why do we have to study so much?!” snapped Albus throwing a book off the bed. He turned on his back and said staring at the ceiling: “Outside is such a beautiful day but we have to stay hidden here, why don’t we go outside for a walk?” he asked addressing Scorpius.   
Scorpius lowered the book he was reading and said bored “You can’t go outside because you have to study if you want to pass the exam”.   
Albus snorted and after a second he stood and said enthusiastically “Why don’t we go study in the garden?”.  
Scorpius looked up at him suspiciously.  
“I don’t know-” started uncertain Scorpius, but he was interrupted by Albus who kneeled at the edge of the bed begging “Please, just today, I’m so bored in here”.  
How could Scorpius say no to Albus’s green eyes?  
“Okay then” answered Scorpius, he couldn’t hold back the little smile that appeared on his face, “But you have to study for real” he added.   
“Yes, I will” answered Albus standing up and taking his cloak.  
The two boys went outside, it was one of the last sunny days of October and the sun was shining in the sky. They sat near a tree, not that far from the lake, with their backs leaned against the trunk.  
“So what do you have to study?” asked Scorpius while he was sitting down.   
“Vampires, for defense against the dark arts you know” answered Albus opening a book.   
“Ok good, and what do you already know about them?” asked interested Scorpius, who already studied that part.   
Albus looked at the book worried, he already read eight pages about vampires, but he hadn’t been really focused on the subject.   
“They eat blood..” he started hesitantly.  
“Yes and then?” Scorpius said absent-minded while he was looking for the page where he left his own book.  
“Then.. they don’t sparkle?” Albus said with a nervous laugh.  
Scorpius looked up at him surprised and asked with a smile “Why on earth should vampires sparkle?”.   
“You’d better go on with that book Albus if you care about your marks” he continued laughing. Albus blushed a little for making a fool out of himself, but even because Scorpius’s smile was so bright in the sun light.  
Scorpius took out his wand and made two feather pillows appear behind his back to get more comfortable.  
“Do you think you can study in such a comfortable position without getting asleep?” asked Albus curiously.  
“I’m reading a book, I’m not studying” answered Scorpius grinning.  
“That’s not fair!” started Albus “Why aren’t you studying?”.  
“Because I already studied those things, and I finished my homework yesterday” answered Scorpius in apology.  
“Oh, ok then” answered Albus a little shocked. He knew that his friend likes to study, probably he already read the majority of the school books just for fun.   
They both started reading their books, when after nearly an hour Albus found a concept that he couldn’t understand in his book. He opened his mouth to speak while he was turning his head towards Scorpius, but then he closed it without saying anything.  
Scorpius wasn’t reading anymore, he was keeping his book closed on his chest so the sunlight could reach his face. Albus couldn’t understand whether he was asleep or if he was just enjoying the autumn sun, but in doubt Albus decided not to disturb him.  
He started reading again, but his attention was taken by a falling leaf that landed on one of Scorpius’s pillows. Albus stretched slowly his hand and took the leaf, trying not to make a sound, and he put it on the ground. In doing so he noticed Scorpius blond hair moving fluently in the breeze, they were shiny and incredibly light, they seemed almost white under the sunlight, as it seemed his skin too. His face was totally relaxed, so Albus could look at his soft lineaments without being scared to be surprised at looking at him.  
‘What are you doing’ thought Albus trying to get focused on vampires again. If he was a vampire he would have bitten softly Scorpius’s neck in that moment, just to know if it was as soft as it seemed. And his pronounced jaws were highlighted by the shadows, making Scorpius neck more attractive than ever.  
‘Stop it!’ said Albus to himself. That was not the right moment to think about stupid stuff, there was nothing to think about except defense about the dark arts, and it wasn’t normal to have that kind of thoughts about a friend. Scorpius made him feel weird sometimes, Albus didn’t understand why but he didn’t like it. He felt like he was weak when he was with Scorpius, even with Sofie he had always control on himself, but with Scorpius he felt like he could lose it sometimes. Like in that moment.   
Albus was looking at Scorpius again, he noticed that the edge of Scorpius’s shirt was a little lifted up and he could see the skin of Scorpius’s hip through it. His skin seemed so smooth that he couldn’t look away.  
That was exactly the kind of feeling he was thinking about before, like he could jump on him in that very moment.  
That was wrong. He couldn’t let himself lose control. Scorpius’s presence had become unhealthy for him, he needed to take some distance from him before something stupid happened.  
Albus slammed his book closed. The loud noise suddenly woke up Scorpius, who looked at his friend surprised.   
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up” said rudely Albus standing up. “But maybe it’s time to go back to school, the sun is setting” continued turning his back to Scorpius.  
Scorpius stood up too, confused, and with a wave of his wand made the pillows disappear.  
“I was getting warm here, I liked it” tried to explain Scorpius.  
“We can study outside again in the next days, maybe” said Albus quickly picking up Scorpius’s cloak from the ground.   
“Ok then” answered the other guy wearing his cloak and taking the way back to the castle.


	4. Chapter 4

The days passed, but they didn’t go study outside again. Albus was always busy with Sofie, they studied together, they ate together, they also stared to sleep together at night.   
Albus told Scorpius during a potion class that the Ravenclaw students had sort of a tradition: every year when they come back from holidays they find the protective spell on the girls’ dormitory room that is active, so the older students ask the new ones to break the spell, and then all students wait until the first year Ravenclaws managed to break it. That spell is the one that forbids all male students to access the girls’ dormitory, so when it’s broken anyone can go wherever he wants.   
So when they broke the spell that year, Sofie invited Albus to spend the nights there with her and her friends. So after a couple of months Scorpius understood that he didn’t have to wait for his friend to come back at night anymore. They met during the lessons but they couldn’t talk that much and Scorpius started feeling alone.  
They sometimes saw each other at lunch, but Scorpius used to just wave at his friend because there was always Sofie around, and she continuously hugged and kissed Albus so much that Scorpius started to feel nauseated by them.   
One day at the end of winter, Scorpius was reading alone in his dormitory room, while his roommates were outside training for Quidditch, when Albus slammed open the door and entered the room. He quickly closed the door after him and leant his back on the door, panting.  
Scorpius looked at him for a moment and then he looked back at the book saying “Hi Albus” in a bored tone of voice.  
Albus burst into laughter and jumped near Scorpius bed. He was sweaty like he had run for miles.   
“You won’t believe it Scorpius, I wish you were there” started saying Albus still panting. He turned towards his bed and took off his sweater, then he sat on his bed with only a wet t-shirt on, taking some breaths before speaking again.  
“We were on the seventh floor when we saw Peeves throwing some potions against a corridor wall-” started describe Albus. Scorpius put down his book annoyed that he had been interrupted and looked at Albus. “So we started yelling to him to stop, because you’ll never know what can happen when you mix two different potions, you know” continued Albus while Scorpius nodded his head to make him know that he was listening. “So when he finished the potions he had, he flew through a wall, but we were still there thinking about what to do to with all that mess he left behind, and in that moment-” Albus paused for an instant to take another breath “we saw the old Filch running toward us, yelling, because he thought that we had thrown the potions against the wall!” Albus started laughing again, but while Scorpius opened his mouth to comment on what Albus just told him, he was interrupted because Albus started saying “But that’s not all! While he was running towards us he slipped on a potion on the floor, and when he got up there were some mushrooms growing on the top of his head!”. Albus started laughing harder than before and Scorpius said “Wow, unbelievable” while he forced a laugh to please his friend.  
“However how are you doing with your homework?” asked Albus crossing his legs to sit more comfortable on the bed.  
“Fine” answered Scorpius without much enthusiasm, “and you?” he asked.  
“Well, I’m working on it” said Albus with a little smile, then he started talking again: “You know I was wondering if you can still help me with the history of magic essay”. Albus was trying to find something to do with Scorpius because he had noticed that a lot of time passed since they spent some time together, but Scorpius didn’t understand that it was the point of what his friend was asking him.  
“Sorry what?” asked coldly Scorpius.  
Albus noticed the change of expression on his friend’s face so he tried to explain “You know, you always find the Red Cap war interesting.. so we can do it together”.  
Scorpius waited some seconds before answering. “I think you can do it alone” said calmly while getting off his bed and walking towards the door.  
“Where are you going?” asked Albus abruptly.   
“As if you care” answered resigned Scorpius in a low voice, while reaching the door handle.  
Albus jumped off his bed and in two steps reached the door and he pulled it close with a hand.  
“As if I care? What are you talking about Scorpius?” asked the boy raising his voice, shocked and worried at the same time.  
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?” snapped Scorpius incapable to shut up anymore.   
“We haven’t said hello in the past three days, we barely saw each other in five mouths outside the lessons and you come here talking about yourself and asking me to help you with your homework?” Scorpius shouted to his friend. He was totally upset.  
“Do you think I’m still here waiting for you to come back? Or do you think that nothing happened and we are still friends like before?” he paused for a second, Albus didn’t expect a similar reaction from his friend, he had never seen him angry before. “Or maybe you don’t care about me at all anymore, now that you have your girlfriend to spend time with?” continued Scorpius relieved to say everything that troubled him during the previous months.  
Albus felt attacked so he tried to reply “So it’s about her? You don’t like her? Are you jealous that I’m making new friends while you’re sitting here reading all day?”.  
“Are you seriously such an idiot?” said Scorpius totally losing his temper “It’s about you hanging out with a girl you didn’t even like instead of me!”.  
“What are you talking about?” asked angrily Albus. Actually he perfectly knew what Scorpius was talking about, but it was a harsh reality he had been trying to hide from himself for a long time.  
“It’s clear that you didn’t like her! She’s always the one who starts kissing or hugging you, It’s from the way you look at her and-” Scorpius hesitated, he was worried he said too much.  
Albus was still standing with a hand against the door, wordless.   
“Do you remember what I asked you before the third year started, on the Platform Nine and Three Quarters?” asked Scorpius calmly, lowering his voice.  
“I just asked you to be my friend” continued slowly Scorpius, his voice trembling, “and you left me alone”.  
Albus was looking at the floor, his face was hidden by his messy hair. He slowly lowered the hand that was on the door. Scorpius moved and opened it, then he walked through the door closing it behind him.

That evening Albus didn’t sleep in the Slytherin dormitory, and the next days he avoided Scorpius even during the lessons. But after some days he started being more present, he started eating in the Slytherin table without Sofie, he spent the nights in his bed more and more often.   
After almost a month he and Scorpius started speaking again, but just some ‘hello’s here and there. Both of them didn’t know how and when was the right moment to speak about what happened between them. The O.W.L. was getting closer every day, so it became difficult for them to have some free time to eventually spend some time together.   
An evening like all the others Scorpius decided to go to the library to study some more before going back to his dormitory, so after dinner he took his bag and he went to the library. It was nine o’clock when the librarian asked him to leave and to go back to his common room, so he obediently got up and left the room.  
He had to walk for a while to reach the Slytherin common room, the corridors were quiet and empty at that hour because everybody else was usually already in their rooms, just sometimes he saw some ghosts flying around without purpose.  
That was not the first time he went to the library after dinner, he liked to be surrounded by silence, even if all his thoughts filled his mind in those moments and in those days they were not such beautiful thoughts.  
He felt alone like never before, he had thought that the months when Albus spent all his time with Sofie would be the worst, but it wasn’t like that. At least he could speak with Albus sometimes: they barely saw each other but in those moments he felt pretty good again; instead now it was the opposite, they met continuously but they didn’t know what to say. This was another reason why Scorpius decided to go study outside the common room, he couldn’t bear any other uncomfortable silence between him and Albus.  
Scorpius almost reached the first floor when he heard some steps getting closer behind him, three boys passed next to him running and laughing, but the forth one slowed down when he reached him. He looked at Scorpius’s face for a moment, confused.  
“Are you Malfoy?” the boy asked confused. Scorpius looked back at him without saying anything, he just slipped his right hand inside his pocket, where his wand was.  
“HEY GUYS!” called the stranger out loud “We have a Malfoy here!”.  
The other three guys walked back and they stopped in front of Scorpius, forcing him to stop too.   
“Blond hair, rich robes. You must be a Malfoy” laughed the taller of the boys, then he continued “Do you know how many people your family killed? Or you don’t care about it?”.  
Scorpius pressed his fingers around the wand to hold it better before he answered “I know” without looking down.  
“You know? That’s all you can say?” asked the same boy.  
“Maybe he already learnt to kill muggles too” said another one.   
“I’m not a killer, I just want to go to my room” said calmly Scorpius.  
The four guys started laughing and one of them said “You have to pay for what you did”.  
All the five students raised their wands at the same time, and spells flew everywhere, Scorpius dodged some spells and the wand of the taller one flew in the air when Scorpius yelled “Expelliarmus!”. But then   
Scorpius was lifted up in the air upside down, like an invisible rope was keeping him hung by the ankles, then a red light reached him and his wand was thrown away.   
The taller boy got up from the floor cleaning his robes with his hands, and then they moved towards Scorpius. He was carried by the four boys inside a broom closet near the corridor and then he was magically locked in there.  
“Have a good night Malfoy” said a voice from outside the door. A hand holding a wand appeared near an opening in the door. As the wand was moved, what seemed like smoke appeared from the tip of the wand and it flew to the ceiling of the broom closet.   
Scorpius heard the guys running away while he was watching the smoke near the ceiling. He could see it just thanks to the light that entered through the opening in the door. It was a little squared hole and it was at the same height of Scorpius face, so he tried to look outside to see if someone, alive or dead, was passing near there. When he saw that no one was around he looked up at the smoke again, it seems denser and darker than before, it was more like dense fog at that moment.   
A drop fell on Scorpius’s cheek, and then another one. Then he realized that it was not smoke, but a magic cloud, and it was starting raining.  
He leant his back against a wall, still looking up, some little lightning appeared among the clouds, and the rain became heavier. Scorpius slowly sat down on the cold floor, holding his knees curled up toward his chest, still leaning his back against the wall. He looked at the opening in the door again, hoping that someone would find him, but he knew that no one would notice his absence.  
He bowed his head and covered it with his arms trying to protect his face from the heavy drops, but it was useless. Drops streamed down his face while he was slowly sinking in his thoughts again, and against them he was defenseless.

The floor was completely covered by water when Scorpius heard some steps in the corridor, but he was so ashamed of the situation that he didn’t even tried to ask for help. The strides slowed down near the door and a voice whispered “Alohomora”. The door slowly opened and Albus got in the room careless of the rain, he kneeled down near Scorpius, who was still crouched in the same position as before and Albus whispered kindly “This must be yours” holding Scorpius’s wand in his hand.  
Scorpius slowly lifted his head to see what Albus was talking about, he took his wand from Albus’s hand and whispered “Finite incantatem” pointing the tip towards the clouds. The rain slowed down, and in some seconds it stopped raining.  
Albus got up and offered a hand to Scorpius. Scorpius looked up, he was completely wet and his eyes were red and a little puffy, then he grabbed Albus’s hand and got up too.  
“Thank you” whispered Scorpius looking down again.  
“I’m sorry I was a total jerk Scorpius” answered Albus still holding his hand, a weak smile appeared on Scorpius’s face.  
“-but we must go now, we’re not allow to stay here so late” continued Albus calmly pulling Scorpius’s hand to lead him outside the room.  
They started running towards their common room, Albus was helping Scorpius moving faster pulling his hand because he was slow with his heavy wet robes on him.  
After some minutes they reached the dungeons and entered the Slytherin common room, everybody else was already sleeping so it was completely empty. The two guys let go of each other’s hand shyly and moved towards the fireplace.  
Albus jumped on a sofa near the fire, panting, while Scorpius stood in front of the flames. Scorpius threw his cloak and his uniform sweater on the floor because they were completely wet and then he stretched his arms towards the fire to get warm.  
“How did you find me?” asked curious Scorpius addressing his friend.  
“When I saw you didn’t come back to the dormitory after dinner I imagined you went to the library” Albus answered staring at Scorpius’s perfect profile drawn by the light of the fire.  
Scorpius’s eyes were closed, he was focused on the sound of Albus’s voice that he missed so much.  
“So when I realized that it was very late and you weren’t coming back I started looking for you and then I found your wand in a corridor, so I knew you were around there” Albus finished explaining.   
Scorpius nodded and the silence was only interrupted by the crackling of the fire.  
“I wanted to say that I’m sorry too, Albus” said Scorpius after a minute, “I didn’t mean to say those things.. to hurt you”. He waited for too long, he felt relived to say it, he wanted Albus to know that he still cared about him even if he had got angry at him.   
“But you were right.. about everything” answered Albus passing frustrated a hand in his hair, looking down, “I broke up with Sofie some days after”.  
“What? Because of me?” asked Scorpius surprised turning toward Albus with his eyes wide open. Albus blushed slightly, but Scorpius didn’t notice it because of the light of the fire.  
“I didn’t mean-” started Scorpius without knowing exactly what to say, “I should have been there for you, I- I’m-” but he was interrupted by Albus who said unexpressive: “Don’t worry, you didn’t have to do anything”.   
Scorpius didn’t really listened to him, he knew that it must have not been easy for Albus to overcome all that, and he felt guilty not to realize it before. He clenched his fists involuntarily, his arms stretched by his side, while he was staring at the blazing flames.   
Albus looked up at Scorpius noticing his silence, he immediately understood his troubling and without thinking he stood up and reached him with just a long step.   
The flames got closer and touched, then they moved farther away from each other, while dancing in the fireplace. But the truth was that no matter how far they seemed, they would always be connected to the core.  
“I told you not to worry” said Albus grabbing Scorpius’s shoulders and turning him gently but with decision toward him. Scorpius was still looking at his feet, ashamed. Albus moved his hands a little down on Scorpius’s arms. He felt the wet and cold shirt under his fingers, and he pressed them kindly trying to reassure Scorpius. “I’m fine now” Albus added to be more convincing.  
Scorpius relaxed his arms and hands slowly, then his shoulders. He felt his chest like it was going to explode in holding back everything he wanted to say and do in that moment. He felt like he wanted to cry and laugh crazily in the same moment, and scream for happiness and frustration.   
He suddenly grabbed Albus and kept him desperately closer to him with all his strength, like he was scared to feel Albus slipping away between his arms. Albus, surprised, slowly moved his hands on Scorpius’s back, confused. He moved them shyly on Scorpius’s shirt, feeling the shape of his body under them. Their heads were close, he could smell Scorpius’s fragrance of new books and soap, he sank his head in his neck closing his eyes to experience him with all his senses.   
He pressed his hands on his back, keeping Scorpius’s body closer than before. Scorpius was grasping Albus’s sweater between his fingers furiously.  
“I missed you” he whispered , his voice trembling, trying to control himself.   
Their grip slowly became a hug, their tense muscles relaxed under the warm touches. Their heads were closer, they felt their cheeks brushing lightly against each other while they were moving back their bodies. They stopped when there was less than a inch of distance between their faces, looking into each other’s eyes.  
Their eyes gleamed like never before, the warm light of the fire burnt on their skin. Albus’s eyes moved from Scorpius’s eyes to his lips, his mouth slightly open. They were both short of breath, their hearts beating furiously in their chests.  
Their lips touched in a soft and delicate kiss, their eyes were closed when they enjoyed the sweet taste of that so desired moment.   
Scorpius moved his hands to Albus’s face, feeling his strong jaw under his fingers, then he moved them to his hair, pressing Albus’s head closer to him, while Albus’s lips moved slowly down to Scorpius’s throat.  
Albus distanced his mouth from Scorpius to take some breath, they looked in the eyes again, both surprised and uncertain of what was happening, but both too excited to stop it.   
Albus moved his hands to Scorpius’s face too, keeping gently his head turned toward him. Then he slowly moved his thumbs along his jawline, following its profile, the two fingers met them exactly below Scorpius’s chin, before moving down in a straight line on his throat.  
Albus felt the soft, smooth, fair skin under his fingers, it was exactly like he had imagined a long time before. Scorpius felt a fire growing in his chest, and he slowly closed his eyes again to focused only on Albus’s fingers, that were tickling and burning his neck while passing on it.   
Albus’s hands arrived finally to the collar of Scorpius’s shirt, he reached the first button and he hesitantly opened it, scared to see Scorpius’s hands block him. When it didn’t happened he moved his fingers to the second one, then the third, and down until he opened the last one. He grabbed kindly Scorpius’s arms and moved them from his neck to his hips, just then he moved his eyes, still focused on Scorpius’s perfect face, to his body.  
Scorpius’s hands grasped strongly the oversize sweater again when he felt Albus’s hands opening his shirt. He could feel Albus’s eyes staring at his body even without looking at him. Albus’s right hand brushed his chest and moved down uncertain till the edge of his pants. A shiver ran down Scorpius’s back.  
Albus moved his hands again following the pants’ hem, it seemed so rough compared to Scorpius’s skin. When his fingers reached Scorpius’s hips he moved closer to him and they kissed again, more passionately than before. Scorpius pulled Albus’s sweater and t-shirt up, forcing him to take them off. When his clothes fell on the floor they kissed again and again, their hands moving on their bodies, their fingers accidentally scratching their skins.  
The warm fire that burnt in the fireplace was barely comparable to the powerful blaze that burnt in their chests, while they understood what their friendship truly was and who was the only person that they could sincerely call family.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to thank my good friend @Lisassbutt for beta-ing this story!


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